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Abstract:

Systems and methods for managing events, including either a server or a
client device, are provided. Assets and events are defined. Information
is received by a client device via an input device, associated with an
asset and an event, and transmitted to the server. Information is also
received by a client device from another client device. Client devices
also access information from the server and display the accessed
information and information received from other client devices. The
server receives information from client devices and stores the
information in association with an asset and an event to which the
information pertains. The server also receives and stores information
from client devices that is designated for transmission to other client
devices. The server also permits client devices to access its stored
information. The server stores multiple pieces of information pertaining
to the same asset or event in association with each other.

Claims:

1. A system for managing events comprising: a server comprising: a
processor configured for executing software; a network interface
configured for communicating with a plurality of client devices via a
communication network; a memory configured for storing software and
information; and software, wherein the software, when executed by the
processor, is operable to perform operations comprising: defining one or
more items, each item comprising an event or an asset; receiving, from a
first one of the client devices via the communication network, first
information and, in association with the first information, first data
indicating a first item to which the first information pertains; storing
the received first information and, in association therewith, the
received first data in the memory; and permitting ones of the client
devices to access the received first information via the communication
network.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the operation of defining one
or more items, each item comprising an event or an asset, comprises:
defining one or more events; and defining one or more assets.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the operations further
comprise: receiving, from a second one of the client devices via the
communication network, second information and, in association with the
second information, second data indicating a second item to which the
second information pertains; storing the received second information and,
in association therewith, the received second data in the memory; and
permitting ones of the client devices to access the received second
information via the communication network, wherein, if the first and
second items are the same, the first and second information are stored in
association with each other, and wherein the first and second client
devices may be the same or different devices.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the operations further
comprise: receiving, from a third one of the client devices via the
communication network, third information and, in association with the
third information, transmission data indicating selected ones of the
client devices to which the third information is designated for
transmission; storing the received third information in the memory; and
permitting ones of the client devices to access the received third
information via the communication network, wherein the first and third
client devices may be the same or different devices.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the operations further
comprise: receiving, from the third client device via the communication
network, in association with the third information, third data indicating
a third item to which the third information pertains; and storing, in
association with the third information, the received third data in the
memory, wherein, if the first and third items are the same, the first and
third information are stored in association with each other.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first information
comprises image, video or audio information.

7. The system according to claim 4, wherein the operations further
comprise: transmitting the third information to the selected ones of the
client devices via email or text message.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the operations further
comprise: receiving data indicating a time at which the first information
was inputted into the first client device; storing in the memory, in
association with the received first information, the data indicating the
time at which the first information was inputted; and permitting ones of
the client devices to access the data indicating the time at which the
first information was inputted.

9. The system according to claim 1, wherein the operations further
comprise: receiving data indicating a first time at which the first
information was inputted into the first client device; storing in the
memory, in association with the received first information, the data
indicating the first time at which the first information was inputted;
receiving, from a fourth one of the client devices via the communication
network, fourth information, data indicating a second time at which the
fourth information was inputted into the fourth client device, and, in
association with the fourth information, fourth data indicating that the
fourth information pertains to the first item, the fourth time being
later than the first time and the fourth information comprising an update
of the first information; identifying the received fourth information as
an update of the first information; storing in the memory the received
fourth information as an update of the first information and, in
association with the received fourth information, the data indicating the
second time at which the fourth information was inputted; and permitting
ones of the client devices to access the received first information, the
received fourth information identified as an update of the first
information, the data indicating the first time at which the first
information was inputted, and the data indicating the second time at
which the fourth information was inputted, wherein the first and fourth
client devices may be the same device or different devices.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the operations further
comprise sending a notification to ones of the client devices after
identification of the received fourth information as an update of the
first information.

11. The system according to claim 1, wherein the operations further
comprise: for each defined item, defining one or more groups of
authorized users, each group of authorized users comprising one or more
authorized user; for each defined group of authorized users, authorizing
the users thereof to perform one or more of the following: a) inputting,
to one or more of the client devices, for uploading to the server,
information pertaining to one or more of the defined items; and b)
accessing, via one or more of the client devices from the server,
information pertaining to one or more of the defined items; and
performing one or both of the following: prior to the inputting of the
information or prior to the uploading of the information, authenticating
a user; and prior to the accessing of the information, authenticating a
user.

12. The system according to claim 1, wherein the operations further
comprise: defining a status of the first item based on the first
information; defining a group of authorized users comprising one or more
users authorized to lock or unlock the status of the first item; in
response to a request to lock the status made by a user authorized to
lock the status, preventing the status from being changed; and in
response to a request to unlock the status made by a user authorized to
unlock the status, permitting the status to be changed, wherein, changing
the status comprises changing the status based on additional information
that pertains to the first item and that has been received from one of
the client devices via the communication network.

13. The system according to claim 4, wherein the operations further
comprise: receiving, from the third client device via the communication
network, in association with the third information, third data indicating
a third item to which the third information pertains; and storing, in
association with the third information, the received third data in the
memory; wherein the permitting the accessing of the first and third
information comprises permitting selective accessing of the first and
third information, based upon characteristics of the first and third
items.

14. The system according to claim 1, further comprising the plurality of
client devices, wherein the server is located geographically remotely
from one or more of the client devices.

15. A method for managing events, performed by software operating on a
server, the server comprising a processor configured for executing
software, a network interface configured for communicating with a
plurality of client devices via a communication network, a memory
configured for storing software and information, and software, the method
comprising: defining one or more items, each item comprising an event or
an asset; receiving, from a first one of the client devices via the
communication network, first information and, in association with the
first information, first data indicating a first item to which the first
information pertains; storing the received first information and, in
association therewith, the received first data in the memory; and
permitting ones of the client devices to access the received first
information via the communication network.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the step of defining one or
more items, each item comprising an event or an asset, comprises:
defining one or more events; and defining one or more assets.

17. The method according to claim 15, further comprising: receiving, from
a second one of the client devices via the communication network, second
information and, in association with the second information, second data
indicating a second item to which the second information pertains;
storing the received second information and, in association therewith,
the received second data in the memory; and permitting ones of the client
devices to access the received second information via the communication
network, wherein, if the first and second items are the same, the first
and second information are stored in association with each other, and
wherein the first and second client devices may be the same or different
devices.

18. The method according to claim 15, further comprising: receiving, from
a third one of the client devices via the communication network, third
information and, in association with the third information, transmission
data indicating selected ones of the client devices to which the third
information is designated for transmission; storing the received third
information in the memory; and permitting ones of the client devices to
access the received third information via the communication network,
wherein the first and third client devices may be the same or different
devices.

19. The method according to claim 18, further comprising: receiving, from
the third client device via the communication network, in association
with the third information, third data indicating a third item to which
the third information pertains; and storing, in association with the
third information, the received third data in the memory, wherein, if the
first and third items are the same, the first and third information are
stored in association with each other.

20. The method according to claim 15, wherein the first information
comprises image, video or audio information.

21. The method according to claim 18, further comprising transmitting the
third information to the selected ones of the client devices via email or
text message.

22. The method according to claim 15, further comprising: receiving data
indicating a time at which the first information was inputted into the
first client device; storing in the memory, in association with the
received first information, the data indicating the time at which the
first information was inputted; and permitting ones of the client devices
to access the data indicating the time at which the first information was
inputted.

23. The method according to claim 15, further comprising: receiving data
indicating a first time at which the first information was inputted into
the first client device; storing in the memory, in association with the
received first information, the data indicating the first time at which
the first information was inputted; receiving, from a fourth one of the
client devices via the communication network, fourth information, data
indicating a second time at which the fourth information was inputted
into the fourth client device, and, in association with the fourth
information, fourth data indicating that the fourth information pertains
to the first item, the second time being later than the first time and
the fourth information comprising an update of the first information;
identifying the received fourth information as an update of the first
information; storing in the memory the received fourth information as an
update of the first information and, in association with the received
fourth information, the data indicating the second time at which the
fourth information was inputted; and permitting ones of the client
devices to access the received first information, the received fourth
information identified as an update of the first information, the data
indicating the first time at which the first information was inputted,
and the data indicating the second time at which the fourth information
was inputted, wherein the first and fourth client devices may be the same
device or different devices.

24. The method according to claim 23, further comprising: sending a
notification to ones of the client devices after identification of the
received fourth information as an update of the first information.

25. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: for each
defined item, defining one or more groups of authorized users, each group
of authorized users comprising one or more authorized user; for each
defined group of authorized users, authorizing the users thereof to
perform one or more of the following: a) inputting, to one or more of the
client devices, for uploading to the server, information pertaining to
one or more of the defined items; and b) accessing, via one or more of
the client devices from the server, information pertaining to one or more
of the defined items; and performing one or both of the following: prior
to the inputting of the information or prior to the uploading of the
information, authenticating a user; and prior to the accessing of the
information, authenticating a user.

26. The method according to claim 15, further comprising: defining a
status of the first item based on the first information; defining a group
of authorized users comprising one or more users authorized to lock or
unlock the status of the first item; in response to a request to lock the
status made by a user authorized to lock the status, preventing the
status from being changed; and in response to a request to unlock the
status made by a user authorized to unlock the status, permitting the
status to be changed, wherein, changing the status comprises changing the
status based on additional information that pertains to the first item
and that has been received from one of the client devices via the
communication network.

27. The method according to claim 18, further comprising: receiving, from
the third client device via the communication network, in association
with the third information, third data indicating a third item to which
the third information pertains; and storing, in association with the
third information, the received third data in the memory; wherein the
permitting the accessing of the first and third information comprises
permitting selective accessing of the first and third information, based
upon characteristics of the first and third items.

28. An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory
machine-accessible medium containing instructions that, when executed by
a processor-based system comprising a processor configured for executing
instructions, a network interface configured for communicating with a
plurality of client devices via a communication network, and a memory
configured for storing instructions and information, enable the
processor-based system to perform operations comprising: defining one or
more items, each item comprising an event or an asset; receiving, from a
first one of the client devices via the communication network, first
information and, in association with the first information, first data
indicating a first item to which the first information pertains; storing
the received first information and, in association therewith, the
received first data in the memory; and permitting ones of the client
devices to access the received first information via the communication
network.

29. The article of manufacture according to claim 28, wherein the
operation of defining one or more items, each item comprising an event or
an asset, comprises: defining one or more events; and defining one or
more assets.

30. The article of manufacture according to claim 28, wherein the
operations further comprise: receiving, from a second one of the client
devices via the communication network, second information and, in
association with the second information, second data indicating a second
item to which the second information pertains; storing the received
second information and, in association therewith, the received second
data in the memory; and permitting ones of the client devices to access
the received second information via the communication network, wherein,
if the first and second items are the same, the first and second
information are stored in association with each other, and wherein the
first and second client devices may be the same or different devices.

31. The article of manufacture according to claim 28, wherein the
operations further comprise: receiving, from a third one of the client
devices via the communication network, third information and, in
association with the third information, transmission data indicating
selected ones of the client devices to which the third information is
designated for transmission; storing the received third information in
the memory; and permitting ones of the client devices to access the
received third information via the communication network, wherein the
first and third client devices may be the same or different devices.

32. The article of manufacture according to claim 31, wherein the
operations further comprise: receiving, from the third client device via
the communication network, in association with the third information,
third data indicating a third item to which the third information
pertains; and storing, in association with the third information, the
received third data in the memory, wherein, if the first and third items
are the same, the first and third information are stored in association
with each other.

33. The article of manufacture according to claim 28, wherein the first
information comprises image, video or audio information.

34. The article of manufacture according to claim 31, wherein the
operations further comprise transmitting the third information to the
selected ones of the client devices via email or text message.

35. The article of manufacture according to claim 28, wherein the
operations further comprise: receiving data indicating a time at which
the first information was inputted into the first client device; storing
in the memory, in association with the received first information, the
data indicating the time at which the first information was inputted; and
permitting ones of the client devices to access the data indicating the
time at which the first information was inputted.

36. The article of manufacture according to claim 28, wherein the
operations further comprise: receiving data indicating a first time at
which the first information was inputted into the first client device;
storing in the memory, in association with the received first
information, the data indicating the first time at which the first
information was inputted; receiving, from a fourth one of the client
devices via the communication network, fourth information, data
indicating a second time at which the fourth information was inputted
into the fourth client device, and, in association with the fourth
information, fourth data indicating that the fourth information pertains
to the first item, the second time being later than the first time and
the fourth information comprising an update of the first information;
identifying the received fourth information as an update of the first
information; storing in the memory the received fourth information as an
update of the first information and, in association with the received
fourth information, the data indicating the second time at which the
fourth information was inputted; and permitting ones of the client
devices to access the received first information, the received fourth
information identified as an update of the first information, the data
indicating the first time at which the first information was inputted,
and the data indicating the second time at which the fourth information
was inputted, wherein the first and fourth client devices may be the same
device or different devices.

37. The article of manufacture according to claim 36, wherein the
operations further comprise sending a notification to ones of the client
devices after identification of the received fourth information as an
update of the first information.

38. The article of manufacture according to claim 28, wherein the
operations further comprise: for each defined item, defining one or more
groups of authorized users, each group of authorized users comprising one
or more authorized user; for each defined group of authorized users,
authorizing the users thereof to perform one or more of the following: a)
inputting, to one or more of the client devices, for uploading to the
server, information pertaining to one or more of the defined items; and
b) accessing, via one or more of the client devices from the server,
information pertaining to one or more of the defined items; and
performing one or both of the following: prior to the inputting of the
information or prior to the uploading of the information, authenticating
a user; and prior to the accessing of the information, authenticating a
user.

39. The article of manufacture according to claim 28, wherein the
operations further comprise: defining a status of the first item based on
the first information; define a group of authorized users comprising one
or more users authorized to lock or unlock the status of the first item;
in response to a request to lock the status made by a user authorized to
lock the status, prevent the status from being changed; and in response
to a request to unlock the status made by a user authorized to unlock the
status, permit the status to be changed, wherein, changing the status
comprises changing the status based on additional information that
pertains to the first item and that has been received from one of the
client devices via the communication network.

40. The article of manufacture according to claim 31, wherein the
operations further comprise: receiving, from the third client device via
the communication network, in association with the third information,
third data indicating a third item to which the third information
pertains; and storing, in association with the third information, the
received third data in the memory; wherein the permitting the accessing
of the first and third information comprises permitting selective
accessing of the first and third information, based upon characteristics
of the first and third items.

41. A client device for managing events, comprising: a processor
configured for executing software; a network interface configured for
permitting the client device to communicate with a server and with other
client devices via a communication network; an input device configured
for permitting information to be inputted into the client device; a
memory configured for storing software, information inputted via the
input device, and information received via the communication network; and
software executable by the processor, wherein the software when executed
is operable to perform operations comprising: defining one or more items,
each item comprising an event or an asset; receiving first information
inputted via the input device; associating first data with the first
information, the first data indicating a first item to which the first
information pertains; transmitting, to the server via the communication
network, the first information and, in association with the first
information, the first data; and accessing, from the server via the
communication network, second information and, in association therewith,
second data indicating a second item to which the second information
pertains.

42. The device according to claim 41, wherein the operation of defining
one or more items, each item comprising an event or an asset, comprises:
defining one or more assets; and defining one or more events.

43. The device according to claim 41, wherein the operations further
comprise: receiving third information inputted via the input device;
transmitting the third information to the server and to one or more of
the client devices via the communication network; and receiving fourth
information from another client device via the communication network.

44. The device according to claim 41, further comprising: a display
device configured to display information on the client device, wherein
the operations further comprise: displaying the accessed second
information on the display device.

45. The device according to claim 43, wherein the transmission of the
third information to one or more of the client devices and the reception
of the fourth information from another client device occurs via the
server.

46. The device according to claim 43, wherein the operations further
comprise: associating data with the third information, the data
indicating item to which the third information pertains; and transmitting
the data to the server via the communication network, in association with
the third information.

47. The device according to claim 41, wherein the first information
and/or the second information comprises image, video or audio
information.

48. The device according to claim 43, wherein the transmission of the
third information to the one or more client devices and the reception of
the fourth information from another client device is via email or text
message.

49. The device according to claim 41, wherein the operations further
comprise: transmitting to the server, in association with the first
information, data indicating a time at which the first information was
inputted.

50. The device according to claim 41, wherein the operations further
comprise: transmitting to the server, in association with the first
information, data indicating a first time at which the first information
was inputted; receiving third information inputted via the input device,
the third information comprising an update of the first information;
associating third data with the third information, the third data
indicating that the third information pertains to the first item; and
transmitting to the server, the third information and, in association
with the third information, the third data and data indicating a second
time at which the third information was inputted, the second time being
later than the first time.

51. The device according to claim 41, wherein the operations further
comprise: for each defined item, defining one or more groups of
authorized users, each group of authorized users comprising one or more
authorized user; for each defined group of authorized users, authorizing
the users thereof to perform one or more of the following: a) inputting,
to one or more of the client devices, for uploading to the server,
information pertaining to one or more of the defined items; and b)
accessing, via one or more of the client devices from the server,
information pertaining to one or more of the defined items; and
performing one or both of the following: prior to the inputting of the
information or prior to the uploading of the information, authenticating
a user; and prior to the accessing of the information, authenticating a
user.

52. The device according to claim 41, wherein the operations further
comprise: defining a status of the first item based on the first
information; defining a group of authorized users comprising one or more
users authorized to lock or unlock the status of the first item; in
response to a request to lock the status made by a user authorized to
lock the status, preventing the status from being changed; and in
response to a request to unlock the status made by a user authorized to
unlock the status, permitting the status to be changed, wherein changing
the status comprises changing the status based on additional information
that pertains to the first item.

53. The device according to claim 41, wherein the operations further
comprise: selectively accessing information from the server based upon
characteristics of defined items to which the information pertains.

54. A method for managing events, performed by a software application
operating on a client device, the client device comprising a processor
configured for executing the software application, a network interface
configured for permitting the client device to communicate with a server
and with other client devices via a communication network, an input
device configured for permitting information to be inputted into the
client device, a memory configured for storing the software application,
information inputted via the input device, and information received via
the communication network, and the software application, the method
comprising: defining one or more items, each item comprising an event or
an asset; receiving first information inputted via the input device;
associating first data with the first information, the first data
indicating a first item to which the first information pertains;
transmitting, to the server via the communication network, the first
information and, in association with the first information, the first
data; and accessing, from the server via the communication network,
second information and, in association therewith, second data indicating
a second event and a second asset to which the second information
pertains.

55. The method according to claim 54, wherein the step of defining one or
more items, each item comprising an event or an asset, comprises:
defining one or more assets; and defining one or more events.

56. The method according to claim 54, further comprising: receiving third
information inputted via the input device; transmitting the third
information to the server and to one or more of the client devices via
the communication network; and receiving fourth information from another
client device via the communication network.

57. The method according to claim 54, wherein the client device further
comprises a display device configured to display information on the
client device, and wherein the method further comprises displaying the
accessed second information on the display device.

58. The method according to claim 56, wherein the transmission of the
third information to one or more of the client devices and the reception
of the fourth information from another client device occurs via the
server.

59. The method according to claim 56, further comprising: associating
data with the third information, the data indicating an item to which the
third information pertains; and transmitting the data to the server via
the communication network, in association with the third information.

60. The method according to claim 54, wherein the first and/or the second
information comprises image, video or audio information.

61. The method according to claim 56, wherein the transmission of the
third information to the one or more client devices and the reception of
the fourth information from another client device is via email or text
message.

62. The method according to claim 54, further comprising: transmitting to
the server, in association with the first information, data indicating a
time at which the first information was inputted.

63. The method according to claim 54, further comprising: transmitting to
the server, in association with the first information, data indicating a
first time at which the first information was inputted; receiving third
information inputted via the input device, the third information
comprising an update of the first information; associating third data
with the third information, the third data indicating that the third
information pertains to the first item; and transmitting to the server,
the third information and, in association with the third information, the
third data and data indicating a second time at which the third
information was inputted, the second time being later than the first
time.

64. The method according to claim 54, further comprising: for each
defined item, defining one or more groups of authorized users, each group
of authorized users comprising one or more authorized user; for each
defined group of authorized users, authorizing the users thereof to
perform one or more of the following: a) inputting, to one or more of the
client devices, for uploading to the server, information pertaining to
one or more of the defined items; and b) accessing, via one or more of
the client devices from the server, information pertaining to one or more
of the defined items; and performing one or both of the following: prior
to the inputting of the information or prior to the uploading of the
information, authenticating a user; and prior to the accessing of the
information, authenticating a user.

65. The method according to claim 54, further comprising: defining a
status of the first item based on the first information; defining a group
of authorized users comprising one or more users authorized to lock or
unlock the status of the first item; in response to a request to lock the
status made by a user authorized to lock the status, preventing the
status from being changed; and in response to a request to unlock the
status made by a user authorized to unlock the status, permitting the
status to be changed, wherein changing the status comprises changing the
status based on additional information that pertains to the first item.

66. The method according to claim 54, further comprising: selectively
accessing information from the server based upon characteristics of
defined items to which the information pertains.

67. An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory
machine-accessible medium containing instructions that, when executed by
a processor-based device comprising a processor configured for executing
instructions, a network interface configured for permitting the
processor-based device to communicate with a server and with other
devices via a communication network, an input device configured for
permitting information to be inputted into the processor-based device,
and a memory configured for storing instructions, information inputted
via the input device, and information received via the communication
network, enable the processor-based system to perform operations
comprising: defining one or more items, each item comprising an event or
an asset; receiving first information inputted via the input device;
associating first data with the first information, the first data
indicating a first item to which the first information pertains;
transmitting, to the server via the communication network, the first
information and, in association with the first information, the first
data; and accessing, from the server via the communication network,
second information and, in association therewith, second data indicating
a second item to which the second information pertains.

68. The article of manufacture according to claim 67, wherein the
operation of defining one or more items, each item comprising an event or
an asset, comprises: defining one or more assets; and defining one or
more events.

69. The article of manufacture according to claim 67, wherein the
operations further comprise: receiving third information inputted via the
input device; transmit the third information to the server and to one or
more of the client devices via the communication network; and receiving
fourth information from another client device via the communication
network.

70. The article of manufacture according to claim 67, wherein the
processor-based device further comprises a display device configured to
display information on the processor-based device, and wherein the
operations further comprise displaying the accessed second information on
the display device.

71. The article of manufacture according to claim 69, wherein the
transmission of the third information to one or more of the client
devices and the reception of the fourth information from another client
device occurs via the server.

72. The article of manufacture according to claim 69, wherein the
operations further comprise: associating data with the third information,
the data indicating an item to which the third information pertains; and
transmitting the data to the server via the communication network, in
association with the third information.

73. The article of manufacture according to claim 67, wherein the first
and/or the second information comprises image, video or audio
information.

74. The article of manufacture according to claim 69, wherein the
transmission of the third information to the one or more client devices
and the reception of the fourth information from another client device is
via email or text message.

75. The article of manufacture according to claim 67, wherein the
operations further comprise: transmitting to the server, in association
with the first information, data indicating a time at which the first
information was inputted.

76. The article of manufacture according to claim 67, wherein the
operations further comprise: transmitting to the server, in association
with the first information, data indicating a first time at which the
first information was inputted; receiving third information inputted via
the input device, the third information comprising an update of the first
information; associating third data with the third information, the third
data indicating that the third information pertains to the first item;
and transmitting to the server, the third information and, in association
with the third information, the third data and data indicating a second
time at which the third information was inputted, the second time being
later than the first time.

77. The article of manufacture according to claim 67, wherein the
operations further comprise: for each defined item, defining one or more
groups of authorized users, each group of authorized users comprising one
or more authorized user; for each defined group of authorized users,
authorizing the users thereof to perform one or more of the following: a)
inputting, to one or more of the client devices, for uploading to the
server, information pertaining to one or more of the defined items; and
b) accessing, via one or more of the client devices from the server,
information pertaining to one or more of the defined items; and
performing one or both of the following: prior to the inputting of the
information or prior to the uploading of the information, authenticating
a user; and prior to the accessing of the information, authenticating a
user.

78. The article of manufacture according to claim 67, wherein the
operations further comprise: defining a status of the first item based on
the first information; defining a group of authorized users comprising
one or more users authorized to lock or unlock the status of the first
item; in response to a request to lock the status made by a user
authorized to lock the status, preventing the status from being changed;
and in response to a request to unlock the status made by a user
authorized to unlock the status, permitting the status to be changed,
wherein changing the status comprises changing the status based on
additional information that pertains to the first item.

79. The article of manufacture according to claim 67, wherein the
operations further comprise: selectively accessing information from the
server based upon characteristics of defined items to which the
information pertains.

Description:

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] Not applicable.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

[0002] Not applicable.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The present disclosure relates generally to systems, methods, and
apparatuses for crisis management and situational awareness. More
particularly, the disclosure relates to systems, methods, and apparatuses
for disaster recovery and business continuity by means of improved
communication, tracking and related activities, applicable to a group of
geographically distributed assets and mobile-based users.

BACKGROUND

[0004] Events such as natural and man-made disasters cause major
interruptions to business operations of large public and private
organizations. Existing approaches to situational awareness, disaster
recovery and business continuity tend to track information using
spreadsheets and to exchange information by ordinary email based systems.
In addition, key parties responsible for managing the crisis tend to be
restricted to operate via a computer located in a central command center.
These approaches inhibit speed, reliability and flexibility in the
capture, exchange, accessing, tracking, recording and other management of
information, the interaction between geographically remote parties, and
the implementation of recovery measures and other responses, which are
necessary or conducive to effective and efficient disaster recovery and
business continuity. In short, prior art approaches are overly slow,
complex, error-prone, and rigid.

SUMMARY

[0005] Embodiments of the present invention provide systems, methods, and
apparatuses for crisis management and situational awareness that address
the aforementioned areas for improvement.

[0006] According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a
system for managing events comprising a server, the server comprising a
processor configured for executing software; a network interface
configured for communicating with a plurality of client devices via a
communication network; a memory configured for storing software and
information; and software. The software, when executed by the processor,
is operable to: define one or more items, each item comprising an event
or an asset; receive, from a first one of the client devices via the
communication network, first information and, in association with the
first information, first data indicating a first item to which the first
information pertains; store the received first information and, in
association therewith, the received first data in the memory; and permit
ones of the client devices to access the received first information via
the communication network.

[0007] According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a
method for managing events, performed by software operating on a server,
the server comprising a processor configured for executing software, a
network interface configured for communicating with a plurality of client
devices via a communication network, a memory configured for storing
software and information, and software. The method comprises: defining
one or more items; receiving, from a first one of the client devices via
the communication network, first information and, in association with the
first information, first data indicating a first item to which the first
information pertains; storing the received first information and, in
association therewith, the received first data in the memory; and
permitting ones of the client devices to access the received first
information via the communication network.

[0008] According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a
client device for managing events, comprising a processor configured for
executing software; a network interface configured for permitting the
client device to communicate with a server and with other client devices
via a communication network; an input device configured for permitting
information to be inputted into the client device; a memory configured
for storing software, information inputted via the input device, and
information received via the communication network; and software
executable by the processor. The software when executed is operable to:
define one or more items; receive first information inputted via the
input device; associate first data with the first information, the first
data indicating a first item to which the first information pertains;
transmit, to the server via the communication network, the first
information and, in association with the first information, the first
data; access, from the server via the communication network, second
information and, in association therewith, second data indicating a
second event and a second asset to which the second information pertains.

[0009] According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a
method for managing events, performed by a software application operating
on a client device. The client device comprises: a processor configured
for executing the software application; a network interface configured
for permitting the client device to communicate with a server and with
other client devices via a communication network; an input device
configured for permitting information to be inputted into the client
device; a memory configured for storing the software application,
information inputted via the input device, and information received via
the communication network; and the software application. The method
comprises: defining one or more items; receiving first information
inputted via the input device; associating first data with the first
information, the first data indicating a first item to which the first
information pertains; transmitting, to the server via the communication
network, the first information and, in association with the first
information, the first data; accessing, from the server via the
communication network, second information and, in association therewith,
second data indicating a second event and a second asset to which the
second information pertains

[0010] According to each of a fifth and sixth aspect of the invention,
there is provided an article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory
machine-accessible medium containing instructions that, when executed by
a machine, enable the machine to perform the methods of the second and
fourth aspects, respectively.

[0011] Other aspects of the embodiments described herein will become
apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings,
illustrating the principles of the embodiments by way of example only.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] The following figures form part of the present specification and
are included to further demonstrate certain aspects of the present
claimed subject matter, and should not be used to limit or define the
present claimed subject matter. The present claimed subject matter may be
better understood by reference to one or more of these drawings in
combination with the description of embodiments presented herein.
Consequently, a more complete understanding of the present embodiments
and further features and advantages thereof may be acquired by referring
to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings, in which like reference numerals may identify like elements,
wherein:

[0013] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a crisis management system, in
accordance with some embodiments;

[0014]FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a client device of a crisis
management system, in accordance with some embodiments;

[0015]FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a software service on the server of a
crisis management system, in accordance with some embodiments;

[0016]FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a software application on a client
device of a crisis management system, in accordance with some
embodiments;

[0017]FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a first arrangement of the flow of
communication among elements of a crisis management system, in accordance
with some embodiments;

[0018]FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a second arrangement of the flow of
communication among elements of a crisis management system, in accordance
with some embodiments;

[0019] FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a crisis management method, as
performed by a server of a crisis management system, in accordance with
some embodiments;

[0020] FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a crisis management method, as
performed by a client device of a crisis management system, in accordance
with some embodiments;

[0021] FIG. 9 is a screenshot of a setup screen for defining crisis
events, in accordance with some embodiments;

[0022] FIG. 10 is a screenshot of a setup screen for defining a corporate
response team, in accordance with some embodiments;

[0023] FIG. 11 is a screenshot of a setup screen for defining a local
response team, in accordance with some embodiments;

[0024] FIG. 12 is a screenshot of a setup screen for defining authorized
users, in accordance with some embodiments;

[0025] FIG. 13 is a screenshot of a home screen for a client device, in
accordance with some embodiments;

[0026] FIG. 14 is a screenshot of an update screen for updating status
information of an asset, in accordance with some embodiments;

[0027] FIG. 15 is a screenshot of a map view of assets, in accordance with
some embodiments;

[0028] FIG. 16 is a screenshot of a view status screen for viewing status
information of assets, in accordance with some embodiments;

[0029] FIGS. 17A and 17B are screenshots of pictures screens for viewing
pictures of assets, in accordance with some embodiments;

[0030] FIG. 18 is a screenshot of an upload image screen for uploading
images of assets, in accordance with some embodiments;

[0031] FIG. 19 is a screenshot of a status report screen for viewing
reports on the status of assets in accordance with some embodiments;

[0032] FIGS. 20A and 20B are screenshots of dashboards for viewing reports
generated from information on multiple assets, in accordance with some
embodiments;

[0033] FIG. 21 is a screenshot of a message center, in accordance with
some embodiments;

[0034] FIG. 22 is a screenshot of a message compose screen, in accordance
with some embodiments;

[0035] FIG. 23 is a screenshot of a message, in accordance with some
embodiments; and

[0036] FIG. 24 is a screenshot of a settings screen for adjusting settings
for a crisis management system, in accordance with some embodiments.

NOTATION AND NOMENCLATURE

[0037] Certain terms are used throughout the following description and
claims to refer to particular system components and configurations. As
one skilled in the art will appreciate, the same component may be
referred to by different names. This document does not intend to
distinguish between components that differ in name but not function. In
the following discussion and in the claims, the terms "including" and
"comprising" are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be
interpreted to mean "including, but not limited to . . . . "

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] The foregoing description of the figures is provided for the
convenience of the reader. It should be understood, however, that the
embodiments are not limited to the precise arrangements and
configurations shown in the figures. Also, the figures are not
necessarily drawn to scale, and certain features may be shown exaggerated
in scale or in generalized or schematic form, in the interest of clarity
and conciseness. Relatedly, certain features may be omitted in certain
figures, and this may not be explicitly noted in all cases.

[0039] While various embodiments are described herein, it should be
appreciated that the present invention encompasses many inventive
concepts that may be embodied in a wide variety of contexts. The
following detailed description of exemplary embodiments, read in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings, is merely illustrative and is
not to be taken as limiting the scope of the invention, as it would be
impossible or impractical to include all of the possible embodiments and
contexts of the invention in this disclosure. Upon reading this
disclosure, many alternative embodiments of the present invention will be
apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art. The scope of the
invention is defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

[0040] Illustrative embodiments of the invention are described below. In
the interest of clarity, not all features of an actual implementation are
described or illustrated in this specification. In the development of any
such actual embodiment, numerous implementation-specific decisions may
need to be made to achieve the design-specific goals, which may vary from
one implementation to another. It will be appreciated that such a
development effort, while possibly complex and time-consuming, would
nevertheless be a routine undertaking for persons of ordinary skill in
the art having the benefit of this disclosure.

[0041] A brief overview of the present disclosure will be provided,
followed by a more detailed description.

[0042] Embodiments of the present invention address the above-mentioned
problems, and may improve the speed, reliability and flexibility in the
capture, exchange, accessing, tracking, recording and other management of
information, the interaction between geographically remote parties, and
the implementation of recovery measures and other responses, which are
necessary or conducive to effective and efficient disaster recovery and
business continuity. Embodiments of the present invention may provide for
real-time or near-real-time capture, exchange, accessing, tracking,
recording and other management of information, and interaction between
geographically remote parties, such as may quicken implementation of
recovery measures and other responses.

[0043] For convenience, embodiments of the present invention may be
described with reference to "disaster recovery" and "business
continuity," but this terminology is not to be taken as limiting and it
is to be understood that such embodiments of the present invention are
also applicable to other situations such as emergencies, crises,
problems, and the like, including ordinary or routine situations, e.g.,
where a task/goal is being worked on/toward by a group. "Situational
Awareness/Disaster recovery/business continuity" and the like terms are
thus to be understood as shorthand expressions in this respect.

[0044] Embodiments of the present invention provide a multi-functional
situational awareness and crisis management system. For example, the
multi-functionality includes, for example: inputting information, e.g.,
status information concerning a disaster and its impact on assets that
may include property, vehicles, buildings, infrastructure, utilities,
medical facilities and other types of assets; communicating--sending and
receiving messages, e.g., with other members of a group working together,
e.g., to assess disaster impact, or recover from a disaster; storing
information, e.g., inputted information and sent messages; organizing
stored information, e.g., associating information pertaining to a
specific asset affected by the disaster; accessing stored information,
e.g., from a central database, and viewing the accessed information,
e.g., on a display; sending alerts, e.g., regarding updates, to group
members or a pertinent subset of them; recording/archiving
information/maintaining a history, e.g., of subsequent updates, which can
be accessed/viewed; performing reporting and analytics on information
received and generating analytic results, e.g., in the form of graphs,
tables, or the like, which can be accessed/viewed; authorizing and
authenticating users; and grouping users, e.g., as members of a disaster
response team assigned to a particular asset, or as members of a
recipient list for communicating messages. This list of functions is not
exhaustive. In large part, the functions may be performed by any user,
anywhere, anytime, although the system may generally be configured such
that certain functions are under the sole purview of a central authority
or unit, e.g., maintaining the authoritative version of archived
information. Individual users may perform the functions using a software
application on an electronic device, which may be mobile/portable, the
software application using web services from a service layer provided by
a system administrator. The system may be implemented as a server-client
system in which the aforesaid electronic devices of individual users, who
may be geographically remote from one another and from the central
authority/unit, are client devices, which access a server to use the web
services and databases. The central authority/unit may also operate as
such a client device, or as the server. By having the central
authority/unit operate as a client device, the central authority/unit may
be located at or near the site of a disaster while the server may be
located remotely, which may render the central authority more responsive
and effective while rendering the server more robust (e.g., able to
perform operations more reliably, able to store information more
securely). This is discussed further below under the rubric of "remote
third party hosting" of the system. The term "information" may be used
herein as a broad, inclusive term, including, e.g., messages. With
respect to the term "asset," while the disclosure generally uses this
term with reference to physical (movable or immovable) property, the term
is to be understood as also encompassing other entities, e.g., personnel
and abstract entities such as organizational units.

[0045] Embodiments of the present invention provide a situational
awareness and crisis management system that accommodates multi-media
content and social media content. For example, the multi-media content
includes: textual information, including formatted and freeform
information, graphical information, images, videos, audio information,
e.g., recordings or synthesized speech. Social media content may come
from various popular social media applications, e.g., Facebook®,
Twitter® or Google+®. This list of content is not exhaustive. The
multi-media and social media content may be manipulated, e.g., in terms
of the functions listed above (inputted, stored, organized, archived,
viewed, transmitted, etc.).

[0046] Embodiments of the present invention provide a situational
awareness and crisis management system that provides multiple modes of
communication. Communication may be performed between any and all of
multiple geographically distributed points (e.g., users) and a center
(e.g., central command center/central authority). For example,
communication can be performed point to point, point to center, center to
point, point to multiple points, center to multiple points, point to
point and center, point to multiple points and center. The system may be
configured to permit point to point and point to multiple point
communication to occur via the center or directly from point to
point/multiple points. This list of modes of communication is not
exhaustive.

[0047] Embodiments of the present invention provide a situational
awareness and crisis management system that provides remote third party
hosting of software/server. The server, including software and one or
more databases for storing information may be hosted by a third party at
a location remote from the users, where the disaster occurs. It is
possible to implement the database(s) as unit(s) separate from the
server. With remote third party hosting, the users affected by the
disaster do not have to support the information technology (IT)
infrastructure and staff for the situational awareness and crisis
management system. Remote third party hosting may provide enhanced
reliability/availability of the system during a disaster, security, and
convenience.

[0048] In response to a disaster, a recovery team may be assembled to
handle the disaster to ensure minimum interruption to business
operations. Multiple teams may be assembled, e.g., local response teams
assigned to handle given assets in different geographic locations, and a
central response team overseeing multiple local response teams. Groups
may also be formed, such as groups of authorized users, authorized to
perform certain tasks, access certain information or the like. Groups of
users may also be formed as recipient lists for receiving communications,
or communications pertaining to a certain asset/location, etc.

[0049] A brief overview has been provided above; it is not intended to be
exhaustive. A more detailed description follows. For the sake of brevity,
a situational awareness and crisis management system may be referred to
in this disclosure as a crisis management system.

[0050] According to embodiments of the present invention, a crisis
management system, including a server, client devices, a software service
on the server, a central database, and a software application on the
client devices, among other components, will be described with reference
to FIGS. 1-6. FIG. 1 provides an overview of such a crisis management
system, while FIG. 2 illustrates a client device thereof. FIG. 3
illustrates such a software service on the server, while FIG. 4
illustrates such a software application on a client device. FIG. 5
illustrates a first arrangement of the flow of communication among the
server and the client devices of a crisis management system, in
accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 6 illustrates a second arrangement
of the flow of communication among the server and the client devices of a
crisis management system, in accordance with some embodiments.

[0051] With reference to FIG. 1, a crisis management system 100 will be
described. Crisis management system 100 includes a server 102 and client
devices 104. Client devices 104 may include mobile client devices 106 and
web client devices 108. Mobile client devices 106 are electronic devices
that are portable or mobile and include, e.g., mobile phones, such as
smartphones (e.g., iPhones®, Android® phones, Windows® phones,
BlackBerry® smartphones), tablets (e.g., iPads®, Android®,
Microsoft Surface® tablets), etc. Web client devices 108 are
electronic devices that are not considered (as) portable or mobile as
mobile client devices 106 and include, e.g., personal computers, such as
laptop and desktop computers, etc. Any client device 104, be it a mobile
client device 106 or a web client device 108, may be used onsite (e.g.,
at an asset, which may be affected by a disaster) by an onsite user
and/or at the location of a central authority/unit by a central authority
user, the central authority, for example, having authority over multiple
sites. As an example, the central authority/unit may be a corporate
headquarters, and the multiple sites may be different branches (e.g.,
retail outlets, production facilities, etc.) of the corporation.

[0052] Server 102 may include a processor 110, a memory 112, and a network
interface 114. Memory 112 may include software service 116 and a database
118. Processor 110 is configured to execute software service 116, which
performs functions of crisis management system 100 on server 102,
including providing web services, HTTP request services and other forms
of data access for use by client devices 104 to perform functions of
crisis management system 100. In the course of performing such functions,
database 118 serves to securely store information, e.g., information
inputted by users of client devices 104 and subsequently uploaded from
client devices 104 to server 102, such as status information concerning
the status of an asset affected by a disaster, and messages sent by users
of client devices 104 to users of other client devices 104 (as noted, the
term "information" may be used to refer to/include such messages). Status
of an asset may include information about the impact of a disaster on
various attributes of the asset. Processor 110 may generate and database
118 may securely store reports containing results generated by analysis
of this information. Network interface 114 is configured for enabling
server 102 to communicate with client devices 104 via a communication
network 120. Communication network 120 may include a wired network, a
wireless network, and facilities for data transmittal over
telecommunications networks and services, and network interface 114 may
include appropriate corresponding interfaces. (Although two boxes labeled
"120" are depicted in FIG. 1, they may be understood as representing a
single communication network. Further discussion in this regard is given
below with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.) Functions of crisis management
system 100 will be described below.

[0053] With reference to FIG. 2, a client device 104 of crisis management
system 100 will be described. Client device 104 may include a processor
210, a memory 212, and a network interface 214. Memory 212 may include a
software application 216. Processor 210 is configured to execute software
application 216, which performs functions of crisis management system 100
on client device 104, using web services and HTTP request services
provided by server 102. Network interface 214 is configured for enabling
client device 104 to communicate via communication network 120 with other
client devices 104 and with server 102. Network interface 214 may include
appropriate interfaces as does network interface 114.

[0054] Client device 104 may also include an input device 217 and a
display device 219. Input device 217 may serve to input information into
client device 104, as may occur in the course of performing functions of
crisis management system 100. Such information may be information
inputted by a user of client device 104 and subsequently uploaded from
client device 104 to server 102, such as status information concerning
the status of an asset or entity affected by a disaster, and messages (or
message content and meta-content) sent by a user of client device 104 to
a user of another client device 104 (as noted, the term "information" may
be used to refer to/include such messages/message content). Input device
217 may thus encompass one or more user interface devices such as a
keyboard, camera, microphone, etc. Information may be inputted into input
device 217 by express action of a user (e.g., typing on a keyboard,
speaking into a microphone, taking a picture), or in an automatic or
(pre-)programmed fashion, either programmed by express action of a user
or otherwise automated/programmed, whereby client device 104 operates to
automatically input information via input device 217 (e.g.,
pre-programmed to take a picture every x minutes). The term "information"
may encompass textual, graphical, image, video, audio or other content.
Such information may also be referred to as "content" or other like
terms. Network interface 214 may serve to transmit data back and forth
from input device 217, memory 212, software application 216 and server
102 (i.e., server 502 or server 602, see FIGS. 5 and 6). This
transmission may be in real-time when network connectivity is available,
e.g., through either Wi-Fi network or cellular network such as AT&T,
Verizon, Sprint and other similar networks. When Wi-Fi or cellular
network is not available for immediate transmission, the data from client
device 104 may be stored locally in memory 212 and storage 213 and
transmitted by software application 216 later when network interface 214
is able to establish connection with server 102 (i.e., server 502 or
602). Storage 213 may be a local database or file storage on client
device 104. Alternatively to FIG. 2, storage 213 may be instantiated as a
part of memory 212.

[0055] Display device 219 may serve to display information to a user of
client device 104, as may occur in the course of performing functions of
crisis management system 100. Such information may encompass text,
graphics, images (e.g., photographs), video, etc. In addition to display
device 219, client device 104 may include other output devices (not
shown) for providing output other than visual/graphical output. For
example, client device 104 could include a speaker (not shown) for
providing audio output, e.g. a sound recording, synthesized speech, etc.

[0056] Functions of crisis management system 100, as mentioned above with
respect to client device 104, will be described below.

[0057] With reference to FIG. 3, software service 116, residing on server
102, will be described. Software service 116 may include a setup module
321 and a management module 322. Setup module 321 may perform functions
of setting up crisis management system 100 for operation at the server
end, as will be described below. Management module 322 may include a
reception/transmission module 323, a storage module 324, a tracking
module 325, and an analysis module 326. Reception/transmission/storage
module 323 may perform functions of receiving information (e.g., status
information, messages) from external tracking systems such as Global
Positioning Satellites (GPSs), external systems or client devices 104 and
transmitting information to client devices 104, as will be described
below. Storage module 324 may perform functions of storing information in
database 118 of server 102, as will be described below. Tracking module
325 may perform functions of organizing information received from
external tracking systems such as GPSs, external systems or client device
104, e.g., on the basis of subject matter (e.g., associating together
information pertaining to the same asset) and on the basis of chronology
(e.g., keeping track of the input times of different updates of a given
asset and maintaining a history of the updates of the given asset
according to their input times), as will be described below. Analysis
module 326 may perform functions of analyzing information received from
client devices 104 and generating reports based on the results of such
analysis, the reports to be accessed from server 102 by client devices
104, as will be described below.

[0058] With reference to FIG. 4, software application 216, resident on
client device 104, will be described. Software application 216 may be
downloaded on client device 104, e.g., as an application for a mobile
device purchased from a distributor of applications (e.g., App Store,
Amazon Appstore, Microsoft AppStore etc.). A web version of software
application 216 may also be accessible directly from the web (internet)
through a client device 104 such as a computer, tablet device such as
iPad, or Smartphone devices. Software application 216 may be distributed
as Software as a Service (SaaS) on a subscription basis. Software
application 216 may include a setup module 421 and a management module
422. Setup module 421 may perform functions of setting up crisis
management system 100 for operation, as will be described below.
Management module 422 may include an input module 427, a
communication/loading module 428 and an output module 429. Input module
427 may perform functions of inputting information (e.g., status
information of an asset) into client device 104, as will be described
below. Communication/loading module 428 may perform functions of
uploading inputted information (e.g., status information, messages) from
client device 104 to server 102 and downloading information from server
102 to client device 104, as will be described below. Output module 429
may perform functions of outputting information on client device 104, as
will be described below.

[0059] With reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, two different arrangements of the
flow of communication among the server and the client devices of a crisis
management system such as crisis management system 100, in accordance
with respective groups of embodiments, will be described. Crisis
management system 500 of FIG. 5 is characterized in that all
communication--all transmission of information--occurs via server 502.
Thus, a message sent from one client device 504 to another client device
504 is transmitted via communication network 520 first to server 502, and
then from server 102 via communication network 520 to the other client
device 504. (Although two boxes labeled "520" are depicted in FIG. 5,
they may be understood as representing a single communication network.)
This arrangement ensures that server 502 receives all communications sent
between client devices 504. Crisis management system 600 of FIG. 6 is
characterized in that communications may be transmitted from one client
device 604 via communication network 620 directly to another client
device 604, without going via server 602. To be sure, in the arrangement
of FIG. 6, crisis management system 600 could be configured such that
whenever a client device 604 sends a message to another client device
604, the message is also automatically sent to server 602. In this way,
even under the arrangement of FIG. 6, it would be ensured that server 602
receives all communications between client devices 604.

[0060] It will be noted that the communication arrangement of crisis
management system 500 shown in FIG. 5 corresponds to that of crisis
management system 100 shown in FIG. 1. However, crisis management system
100 could alternatively be configured according to the communication
arrangement of crisis management system 600 shown in FIG. 6. Preferably,
crisis management system 100 is configured such that server 102 receives
and stores all communications sent from any one client device 104 to any
other client device 104, whether under the communication arrangement of
crisis management system 500 shown in FIG. 5, or under the communication
arrangement of crisis management system 600 shown in FIG. 6, under the
aforesaid configuration of crisis management system 600. Note that, as
also mentioned below, if communication between client device 104 and
server 102 is temporarily unavailable, client device 104 may be
configured such that information designated for transmission from client
device 104 to server 102 is stored locally on storage 213 of client
device 104 and is subsequently transmitted to server 102 for processing
by server 102, when communication between client device 104 and server
102 becomes available.

[0061] Functions of crisis management system 100, as mentioned above in
the description of FIGS. 1-6, will be further described in the below
discussion of crisis management methods, or methods of operation of
crisis management system 100. Otherwise, further details of the structure
and operation of server 102, software service 116, client devices 104,
software application 216, and their various components set forth above
will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art.

[0062] Crisis management methods, or methods of operating crisis
management system 100, will now be described. An overview of such methods
will first be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8, followed by a
more detailed description with additional reference to FIGS. 9-24. FIG. 7
is a flow chart illustrating a crisis management method 700, as performed
by a software application 216 on a client device 104 of a crisis
management system 100, in accordance with some embodiments, while FIG. 8
is a flow chart illustrating a crisis management method 800, as performed
by a software service 116 on server 102 of a crisis management system
100, in accordance with some embodiments. It will be understood that the
following description of FIGS. 7 and 8 is applicable to the arrangements
of both FIGS. 5 and 6.

[0063] Turning to FIG. 7, crisis management method 700, as performed by
software application 216 on client device 104, will be described. In
accordance with various embodiments, some or all of the steps of crisis
management method 700 may be performed. The order of the steps may be
varied.

[0064] At step 702 one or more assets are defined, in accordance with user
input. At step 704, one or more events (crisis events) are defined, in
accordance with user input. At step 706, one or more groups of authorized
users are defined, in accordance with user input. In this regard, users
may be authorized, for example, to input/send/receive/access information
for a certain event or for a certain asset, or to perform certain
functions, such as locking or unlocking a status of an event or asset.
After a user has been authorized, the user may be authenticated upon
attempting to perform an action (e.g., input, send, receive, or access
information) on client device 104. Authentication may be accomplished by
requiring a user to log in using the user's email address, password,
and/or license key (license to the software product having the software
application 216), or in any appropriate manner known to one of ordinary
skill in the art.

[0065] Steps 702 through 706 may be performed by setup module 421 of
software application 216, and these steps may be referred to collectively
as the setup portion of crisis management method 700.

[0066] At step 708, first information, inputted via input device 217, is
received. At step 710, first data is associated with the first
information, the first data indicating a first event (of the defined
events) and a first asset (of the defined assets) to which the first
information pertains. At step 712, the first information and, in
association therewith, the first data, is transmitted to server 102 via
communication network 120 and the first information may be designated for
access from server 102 by one or more client devices 104. Similarly, data
indicating a first time at which the first information was inputted may
also be transmitted to server 102 in association with the first
information.

[0067] At step 714, second information, inputted via input device 217, is
received. At step 716, data is associated with the second information,
the data indicating an event (of the defined events) and an asset (of the
defined assets) to which the second information pertains. At step 718,
the second information is transmitted to server 102 and to one or more
client devices 104 via communication network 120. The data associated
with the second information, and data indicating a time at which the
second information was inputted, may also be transmitted, in association
with the second information, to server 102 and to the one or more
receiving client devices 104.

[0068] It is noted that, in step 718, the transmission of the second
information to the one or more client devices 104 may occur in either of
the two manners described above with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. That is,
the second information may be transmitted to server 102 and then from
server 102 to client devices 104 (i.e., all transmissions between client
devices 104 going via server 102), as per FIG. 5, or the second
information may be transmitted both to server 102 and directly from
client device 104 to the other client device(s) 104, as per FIG. 6 under
the noted configuration of crisis management system 100.

[0069] Related to step 718, transmission data may be associated with the
second information, the transmission data indicating selected ones of
client devices 104 to which the second information is designated for
transmission. In this case, the second information is transmitted to the
selected ones of client devices 104. The transmission data may be
inputted via input device 217 of the sending client device 104, e.g., by
a user, or may be present in the sending client device 104 by another
means, e.g., having been preprogrammed during setup, e.g., based on a
defined group of authorized users authorized to perform certain actions
with respect to the defined event or asset to which the second
information pertains.

[0070] At step 720, third information is received from another client
device 104 via communication network 120. As per the discussion of step
718 above, the third information received from another client device 104
may be received via server 102, in either of the two manners discussed
above. With reference to step 720, data indicating the event and asset to
which the third information pertains may be received in association with
the third information, and if the first and third events or assets are
the same, the first and third information may be associated with each
other.

[0071] At step 722, fourth information and, in association therewith,
second data indicating a second event and a second asset to which the
fourth information pertains, is accessed from server 102 via
communication network 120. The fourth information and the second data may
have been transmitted to server 102 from one of the client devices 104
via communication network 120 and designated for access from server 102
by one or more of the client devices 104. With regard to step 722, more
generally, information may be selectively accessed from server 102, for
example, based on characteristics/identity of the event or the asset to
which the information pertains.

[0072] At step 724, the received third information and the accessed fourth
information is displayed on display device 219 of the receiving/accessing
client device 104.

[0073] Transmission of the second information, and reception of the third
information, between the sending and receiving client devices 104, and
between client device 104 and server 102, may occur via email, text
message, or other media. In this regard, transmission between client
device 104 and server 102 may occur via a medium different from that used
for transmission between sending and receiving client devices 104. With
regard to all transmission and reception of information, the information
may be encrypted prior to transmission and decrypted upon reception.

[0074] When additional information is inputted into client device 104,
additional data indicating a defined event and a defined asset to which
the additional information pertains may be associated with the additional
information. If either the event or the asset to which the additional
information pertains is the same as the first event or the first asset to
which the first information pertains, the additional information and the
first information may be associated together on the basis of the common
event or asset. If both the event and the asset to which the additional
information pertains are the same as the first event and the first asset
to which the first information pertains, the additional information may
be deemed an update of the first information. In this case, of course,
the time at which the additional information was inputted into client
device 104 is later than the time at which the first information was
inputted into client device 104. The additional information may be
transmitted to server 102, in association with the additional information
and the time at which the additional information was inputted into client
device 104, and, if appropriate, the additional information may be
identified to server 102 by client device 104 as an update of the first
information. Relatedly, client device 104 may receive a notification from
server 102 when server 102 receives and identifies information as an
update of the previously received information. The notification may
indicate that an update of previously received information has been made,
and may indicate the content of that update.

[0075] Client device 104 may also access or receive from server 102
reports generated by software service 116 based on the results of
analysis performed by software service 116 on accumulated information
received by server 102 from one or more client devices 104.

[0076] Steps 708-724 may be performed by management module 422, with steps
708, 710, 714 and 716 being performed by input module 427, steps 712,
718, 720 and 722 being performed by communication/loading module 428, and
step 724 being performed by output module 429. These sets of steps may be
referred to as the input portion, communication/loading portion, and
output portion, respectively, of crisis management method 700.

[0077] According to some embodiments, instead of or in addition to steps
702 and 704, one or more items may be defined, each item comprising an
event or an asset. Correspondingly, in this case, subsequent steps of
method 700 that involve the defining of an event or asset may involve the
defining of an item. According to some embodiments, method 700 may
include such a step of defining an item, and steps 708-712 and 722, so
modified in view of the step of defining an item. According to some
embodiments, method 700 may include other subsets of steps 702-724,
including other modifications or not. According to some embodiments, the
labels such as "first information," "second information," etc. may be
used to refer to different kinds of information than those for which
those labels were used above.

[0078] Turning to FIG. 8, crisis management method 800, as performed by
software service 116 on server 102, will be described. In accordance with
various embodiments, some or all of the steps of crisis management method
800 may be performed. The order of the steps may be varied.

[0079] Steps 802 through 806 correspond to steps 702 through 706,
respectively, of crisis management method 700, and the above description
of the latter applies to the former, the necessary changes being made
given that the latter pertain to client device 104 and the former pertain
to server 102. Therefore, for the sake of brevity, further description of
steps 802 through 806 with reference to FIG. 8 is omitted, as one of
ordinary skill in the art will understand the aforementioned necessary
changes being made. Steps 802 through 806 may be performed by setup
module 321 of software service 116, and these steps may be referred to
collectively as the setup portion of crisis management method 800.

[0080] At step 808, first information and, in association with the first
information, first data indicating a first event and a first asset to
which the first information pertains, are received from a first client
device 104 via communication network 120. At step 810, the received first
information and, in association therewith, the received first data, is
stored in memory 112, e.g., database 118, of server 102.

[0081] At step 812, second information and, in association with the second
information, second data indicating a second event and a second asset to
which the second information pertains, are received from a second client
device 104 via communication network 120. At step 814, the received
second information and, in association therewith, the received second
data, is stored in memory 112, e.g., database 118, of server 102.

[0082] Relatedly to steps 808 and 812, data indicating a first time at
which the first information was inputted into the first client device 104
may be received from first client device 104, and data indicating a
second time at which the second information was inputted into the second
client device 104 may be received from second client device 104.
Relatedly to steps 810 and 814, the data indicating the first time at
which the first information was inputted, and the data indicating the
second time at which the second information was inputted, may be stored
in the memory 112, e.g., database 118, of server 102, in association with
the first and second information, respectively. Further relatedly to step
814, at step 815, if the first and second events, or the first and second
assets, are the same, the first and second information are stored in
association with each other.

[0083] At step 816, third information and, in association with the third
information, transmission data indicating selected ones of the client
devices 104 to which the third information is designated for
transmission, is received from a third client device 104 via
communication network 120. At step 816, third data, indicating a third
event and a third asset to which the third information pertains, may also
be received in association with the third information from a third client
device 104 via communication network 120. At step 818, the received third
information is stored in memory 112, e.g., database 118, of server 102.
At step 818, the transmission data and third data may also be stored in
memory 112, e.g., database 118, of server 102.

[0084] At step 820, the third information is transmitted to the selected
ones of the client devices 104. The reception and transmission of the
third information may occur via email, text message, or other media. The
reception of the first and second information may occur via email, text
message, or by other manner of transmission. With regard to all
transmission and reception of information, the information may be
encrypted prior to transmission and decrypted upon reception.

[0085] At step 822, ones of the client devices 104 are permitted to access
the received first, second and third information via communication
network 120. Such permitting access may comprise transmitting any of the
received first, second and third information to ones of the client
devices 104. With regard to step 822, more generally, ones of the client
devices 104 may be permitted to selectively access information from
server 102, for example, based on characteristics/identity of the event
or the asset to which the information pertains.

[0086] It is noted that any of the first, second and third client devices
104 may be the same or different devices.

[0087] At step 824, fourth information and, in association with the fourth
information, fourth data indicating that the fourth information pertains
to a given event and a given asset, are received from a fourth client
device 104 via communication network 120; in addition, data indicating a
second time at which the fourth information was inputted into the fourth
client device 104 is received from the fourth client device 104 via
communication network 120. At step 826, if either the given event or the
given asset to which the fourth information pertains is the same as the
first event or the first asset to which the first information pertains,
the fourth information and the first information may be associated
together on the basis of the common event or asset. At step 828, if both
the given event and the given asset to which the fourth information
pertains are the same as the first event and the first asset to which the
first information pertains, and the second time is later than the first
time, the fourth information may be deemed and identified as an update of
the first information. At step 830, the received fourth information may
be stored in memory 112, e.g., in database 118, as an update of the first
information, and in association with the given event and given asset to
which the fourth information pertains and with the data indicating the
second time at which the fourth information was inputted. At step 832, a
notification may be sent to ones of the client devices 104 after
identification of the received fourth information as an update of the
first information. The notification may indicate that an update of the
first information has been made, and may indicate the content of that
update, that is, the fourth information. At step 834, ones of the client
devices 104 are permitted to access the received first information, the
received fourth information identified as an update of the first
information, the data indicating the first time at which the first
information was inputted, and the data indicating the second time at
which the fourth information was inputted. Such permitting access may
comprise transmitting the indicated information and data to ones of the
client devices 104. The first and fourth client devices 104 may be the
same device or different devices.

[0088] At step 836, analysis may be performed on the received first and
second information, and a report may be generated based on the results of
the analysis. At step 838, ones of the client devices 104 may be
permitted to access the report. Such permitting access may comprise
transmitting the report to ones of the client devices 104.

[0089] Steps 808-838 may be performed by management module 322, with steps
808, 812, 816, 820, 822, 824, 832, 834 and 838 being performed by
reception/transmission module 323, steps 810, 814, 818 and 830 being
performed by storage module 324, steps 815, 826 and 828 being performed
by tracking module 325, and step 836 being performed by analysis module
326. These sets of steps may be referred to as the reception/transmission
portion, storage portion, tracking portion, and analysis portion,
respectively, of crisis management method 800.

[0090] According to some embodiments, instead of or in addition to steps
802 and 804, one or more items may be defined, each item comprising an
event or an asset. Correspondingly, in this case, subsequent steps of
method 800 that involve the defining of an event or asset may involve the
defining of an item. According to some embodiments, method 800 may
include the following steps: defining one or more items, each item
comprising an event or an asset; receiving, from a first one of the
client devices via the communication network, first information and, in
association with the first information, first data indicating a first
item to which the first information pertains; storing the received first
information and, in association therewith, the received first data in the
memory; and permitting ones of the client devices to access the received
first information via the communication network. According to some
embodiments, method 800 may include other subsets of steps 802-838,
including modifications of those steps or not. According to some
embodiments, the labels such as "first information," "second
information," etc. may be used to refer to different kinds of information
than those for which those labels were used above.

[0091] A more detailed description of crisis management methods 700 and
800 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 9-24.

[0092] FIGS. 9-24 pertain to an example organization faced with the task
of recovering from one or more disasters. As an example, the organization
generally illustrated in these figures is a university with multiple
campus locations and multiple buildings. Embodiments of the present
invention are applicable to a variety of organizations or entities, e.g.,
corporate entities having multiple retail outlets, branch offices,
production facilities, or other assets, e.g., properties or
buildings/structures, etc. The assets may be grouped into divisions,
which may correspond to cities or other geographical regions. Such
corporate entities may be private, commercial entities, government
entities, non-profit entities, etc. The assets may be physical structures
or territories (e.g., parks, real estate lots, mountains (e.g., for
skiing), etc.), personnel, or abstract entities such as organizational
units. Each asset may be unique to a given location, in which case the
assets may be referred to as locations. The assets may be subject to
damage, closure, devaluation, incapacitation, etc. due to disasters or
other conditions.

[0093] FIGS. 9-24 show screenshots on a client device 104, and hence are
described with respect to actions of a user of client device 104 and
operations of crisis management method 700 performed by software
application 216. With respect to some of those actions and operations,
corresponding operations are performed by software service 116 residing
on server 102. To the extent not described above or below, such
corresponding operations will be understood by one of ordinary skill in
the art.

[0094] The setup portion of crisis management methods 700, 800 will be
described with reference to FIGS. 9-12. FIG. 9 is a screenshot of a setup
screen for defining crisis events, in accordance with some embodiments.
FIG. 10 is a screenshot of a setup screen for defining a corporate
response team, in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 11 is a
screenshot of a setup screen for defining a local response team, in
accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 12 is a screenshot of a setup
screen for defining authorized users, in accordance with some
embodiments. The functions performed using the screens shown in FIGS.
9-12 may be performed by inputting information into a client device 104,
for subsequent upload/transmission to server 102.

[0095] The screen shown in FIG. 9 may be used to define or create events,
e.g., crisis events. A user can define or create a new event by pressing
the "add" button/icon 902. Pressing the "add" button (or icon) 902 brings
up several fields 904 for entering information defining the event. As
shown in FIG. 9, fields 904 may include "crisis name," "crisis type,"
"crisis description," "crisis cause," "from date," "to date," "hotline
website," "hotline phone number," "hotline email address" "hotline
message," and "emergency declaration numbers." Filling in fields 904 and
pressing the "save" button 906 completes the defining of the event. The
defined events are listed in a vertical sidebar 908 (although only two
events are shown in sidebar 908, more than two events may be defined and
listed). Each listed event 910 includes brief information identifying the
event, namely, event name, event type, from date and to date. Selecting
one of the listed events 910 by highlighting it (as shown for "Earthquake
(6.3)") brings up the information entry fields 904 for the selected
event, which then may be edited. A listed event 910 may be deleted by
selecting it from the list in sidebar 908 and pressing the "delete"
button 912. The "cancel" button 914 may be used to cancel an action (e.g.
saving or deleting) rather than completing it. The "lock" button 916
permits a user to lock a listed event 910 and the information in fields
904 describing it, so that no other user can delete the event 910 or edit
the information. If not locked, a user may edit the information by
selecting the event 910, overwriting the existing information and
pressing "save" button 906. Once an event 910 is locked, the "lock"
button 916 may change to an "unlock" button (not shown), which permits a
user to unlock the event 910 and the information describing it, e.g., in
order to edit the information or delete the event 910. The system may be
configured such that locking and/or unlocking may be performed only by
users having the requisite authorization to do so. Although not
illustrated, the system may be configured to permit locking and unlocking
of entities other than events, e.g., assets, users, etc.

[0096] A user can navigate back and forth among various setup screens by
selecting and pressing any one of the icons 918, namely, "crisis events,"
"corporate response team," "local response team," and "users." Although
not illustrated, according to some embodiments the screen shown in FIG. 9
may include among icons 918 an additional icon labeled "assets" for
defining assets, or an asset setup function may be accessed in a
different manner. In either case, a screen for defining or creating
assets may be provided, which may have a format/layout and capabilities
for adding, deleting, editing, locking, etc. along the lines of those of
the setup screen for defining events shown in FIG. 9. Crisis management
system 100 may also be integrated with enterprise resource planning (ERP)
software so as to obtain asset information therefrom such that assets may
be automatically defined in the system rather than requiring them to be
manually entered.

[0097] The screen shown in FIG. 10 may be used to define members of a
central authority/unit, who may be in charge of individual users or
groups of individual users; in this example, the central authority/unit
is referred to as a corporate response team, which is in charge of local
response teams, each of which is responsible for a given asset/location.
The "add" button 1002, "delete" button 1012, "save" button 1006, and
"cancel" button 1014, as well as the information entry fields 1004, shown
in FIG. 10 are operated by a user in a manner similar to their
counterparts in FIG. 9, and are used to add or delete members of the
team, and to input, delete or edit information about a given member.
Also, vertical sidebar 1008, which includes a list of defined members,
each list entry including brief identifying information such as name,
role and phone numbers, operates similarly to vertical sidebar 908, which
includes a list of defined events, shown in FIG. 9. In accordance with
some embodiments, a user may initiate a phone call or (although not
illustrated in FIG. 10) an email to a listed member 1010 directly from
the member list, by pressing an icon, such as arrowhead 1020, on the
listing for the individual member.

[0098] The screen shown in FIG. 11 may be used to define members of a
local response team which may be responsible for a given asset/location.
This screen operates in a manner similar to that of FIG. 10. FIG. 11
shows a field 1122 labeled "area," which does not have a counterpart in
FIG. 10. Field 1122 may represent a unit of the organization or corporate
entity intermediate in hierarchy between the central authority and the
assets/local response teams, that is, each area (or division, etc.) may
encompass some of the assets/local response teams. Adjacent to "area"
field 1122 is an unlabeled field 1124 that may represent, e.g., a
sub-area (sub-division), or an asset/location. In this regard, it may be
noted that although only three such levels of hierarchy (corporate, i.e.,
central authority; area or division; and building, i.e., asset) are
generally illustrated herein (see, e.g., FIG. 19), crisis management
system 100 may be customized to have a greater or lesser number of levels
of hierarchy.

[0099] The screen shown in FIG. 12 may be used to define all users of the
system. This screen operates in a manner similar to that of FIGS. 10 and
11. Defining (adding and saving) a user may be understood as authorizing
the user. Crisis management system 100 may be configured so that users
may be selectively authorized, e.g., to perform selected functions, to
perform functions with respect to selected assets, etc. Such selective
authorization may be performed by assigning a user to a permission type
or user group. As seen in FIG. 12, "permission type" is an information
entry field 1226 to be filled in (in this case, by selecting from a
pull-down menu rather than entering text freeform) when adding a new user
or editing a user's information. As seen in the user list in vertical
sidebar 1208 and in the user details for a given user being added,
permission types (or user groups) in this example include "viewer,"
"trial (user)," and "admin." Other permission types that might be
employed could include "crisis responder" and "executive," etc. For
example, a crisis responder may be authorized to perform some or all of
the following: input information (e.g., status updates and the like),
send messages, receive messages, and access information regarding the
asset to which s/he is assigned as a member of the local response team
responsible for that asset; in contrast, a viewer may be someone who is
not a member of any local response team and may accordingly be authorized
to access information from the server to view it but not to input
information regarding assets. As another example, executives and/or admin
users but not other users could be authorized to lock and/or unlock
events or other items.

[0100] It will be understood that other ones of information entry fields
1004, 1104, e.g., title, role, and area (division), as shown in FIGS. 10
and 11, could also be used to implement selective authorization. The
system could be configured, for example, such that a given title or role
corresponds to a given permission type or user group, such that assigning
a user a given title or role automatically assigns that user to a given
user group (for example, the role "customer relationship manager" could
correspond to the "viewer" user group). Alternatively, for example,
assigning a user a given title or role could serve to directly implement
selective authorization for that user, i.e., authorize that user to
perform certain functions. As another example, assigning a user to a
given area (division) may serve to selectively authorize that user, e.g.,
to perform certain functions with respect to assets in that area
(division) but not with respect to assets in other areas (divisions).

[0101] As was described with respect to defining assets, integration of
crisis management system 100 with enterprise resource planning (ERP)
software may also be used to access personnel information such that
personnel (e.g., corporate response team, local response team, users) may
be automatically defined in the system rather than requiring them to be
manually entered.

[0102] It should also be understood, with respect to FIGS. 9-12 as well as
the other examples of screenshots illustrated in this disclosure, the
specific information entry fields, the layout/formatting of the screen,
the specific icons/buttons and tabs, etc. may be varied, including by
addition and omission of items, such that the system can be customized to
different requirements, as may be warranted for different purposes, e.g.,
different types of organizations, assets, events, etc.

[0103] FIG. 13 is a screenshot of a home screen for a user of client
device 104 to navigate through the various screens provided by the system
for carrying out operations of the methods. The vertical sidebar 1308 at
left shows a list of all the events 1310 entered (defined) in the system,
e.g., an earthquake (Great Shakeout) (although only one event is shown in
sidebar 1308, more than one event may be defined and listed). When a
given event is highlighted, brief identifying information (e.g., phone
number, email address, website, message, emergency declaration numbers)
about the event appears in information entry fields 1304. The home screen
also includes a navigation menu 1301, Admin button 1330 and Settings
button 1332. Selecting Admin button 1330 takes the user to the set of
Admin screens, namely, those illustrated in FIGS. 9-12 and described
above. Selecting Settings button 1332 opens a popup window where the user
may view and edit settings, illustrated in FIG. 24 and described below.
Navigation menu 1301 includes a Status icon 1334, a Dashboard icon 1336,
a Reports icon 1338 and a Message Center icon 1340. Selecting Status icon
1334 takes the user to one of a set of screens for the highlighted event,
covering all the assets defined (or all the assets defined as pertaining
to that event), for inputting and viewing information about those assets,
pertaining to that event, as illustrated in FIGS. 14, 16 and 17A,
described below. Selecting Dashboard icon 1336 takes the user to the
dashboard screen, illustrated in FIG. 20A, described below. Selecting
Reports icon 1338 takes the user to the reports screen, illustrated in
FIG. 19, described below. Selecting Message Center icon 1340 takes the
user to the message center screen, illustrated in FIG. 21, described
below. The system may be configured such that selecting a given one of
the events 1310 listed in sidebar 1308 again takes the user to one of a
set of screens for that event, covering all the assets defined (or all
the assets defined as pertaining to that event), for inputting and
viewing information about those assets, pertaining to that event, as
illustrated in FIGS. 14 and 16 and 17A, described immediately below.

[0104] The input portion of crisis management method 700 will be described
here with reference to FIG. 14 and below with reference to FIG. 18. FIG.
15 will also be described in the course of this description. FIG. 14 is a
screenshot of an update screen for updating status information of an
asset, by inputting information into a client device 104, for subsequent
upload/transmission to server 102, in accordance with some embodiments.
As shown, update button 1454 is highlighted/selected, indicating this
screen is an update screen. As shown in event name field 1444, this is a
screen pertaining to the event "Hurricane Janet." As shown in asset field
1445, the update screen currently shows information pertaining to the
asset "Communication Building." Asset filed 1445 may include not only the
name of the asset but identifying information, e.g., a photograph,
address/location, phone number, as illustrated. The List button 1446 and
Map button 1448 permit viewing of the assets in a sidebar list view
(illustrated in FIG. 16 as element 1608, described below) or in a map
view, as illustrated in FIG. 15.

[0105] FIG. 15 is a screenshot of a map view of assets, in accordance with
some embodiments. The system may be configured to show identifying
information 1503 for the particular asset 1505 which was shown in FIG. 14
(or FIG. 16 or 17A) when the user pressed the map button 1448 (or 1648 or
1748) to go to the map view shown in FIG. 15. The system may also be
configured to show this identifying information 1503 when the user
selects, in some fashion, an asset shown in the map view. In the map
view, all the assets or different subsets of the assets, for example,
only those assets for which status information has been reported, may be
viewed. Other kinds of filtering (viewing a select subset) of the assets
shown on the map, such as by asset type, or by organizational hierarchy
such as by region, location, zip code, etc. may be provided. Crisis
management system 100 may be configured so as to permit a user to
customize such filter conditions. Although not illustrated in FIG. 15, in
the map view different information about the assets may be shown, e.g.,
the overall status or the operating status. The map view may also show
entities other than assets, for example, emergency services and places of
public interest such as medical facilities, restaurants, banks, gas
stations, and roads; such entities may be shown using symbols or icons
that are the same as, or different from, those used to show assets. The
status of such places could be obtained via external systems via cloud
sourcing, and shown on the map. Crisis management system 100 may also be
configured such that a user can click on an asset on the map to go to a
screen for viewing or updating status information for that asset.
Otherwise, when a user hits the done button 1507 s/he is returned to the
update screen of FIG. 14.

[0106] With continued reference to the update screen shown in FIG. 14,
information entry fields 1404, containing status information for the
asset indicated in asset field 1445, may be shown for a given one of
several categories 1450 by selecting/highlighting the given category. For
example, as illustrated, the screen shows information entry fields 1404
in the category of "Life Safety." The set of information entry fields
1404 may vary, or not, for each of categories 1450, as appropriate.
Information entry fields 1404 may be edited by inputting the information
as illustrated, e.g., in freeform text or otherwise, depending on the
individual field. Hitting the Save button 1406 may cause the inputted
information to be uploaded/transmitted to server 102 as a status update
for the given asset indicated in asset field 1445. Using List button
1446, a user can select an asset from the sidebar list view (as noted,
illustrated in FIG. 16 as element 1608, and described below) to update
the status for that asset, and more specifically can select categories
1450 ("Overall," "Life Safety," "Patient/Animal," etc.) from the tabs
shown with the names of the categories 1450 to update status information
in the selected category for the selected asset. The Crisis Management
System 100 provides the flexibility to allow a user to configure any
field 1404 for which information is desired to be captured (e.g., create
a new field 1404) and the ability to organize fields 1404 falling under a
given category tab, dynamically without requiring programming changes.
Each field 1404 can be configured to allow entry of associated notes (not
shown) to be inputted by the user.

[0107] As for inputting information in client device 104, in the screen of
FIG. 14 or as described elsewhere in this disclosure, crisis management
system 100 may be configured such that a user can input textual or
linguistic information not only by entering written information or
manually selecting from a pull-down menu, radio buttons or the like, but
also by means of speech. That is, crisis management system 100 may
include speech processing capabilities to accept spoken information from
a user, as well as synthesized speech capabilities to instruct or respond
to (input of) a user. Information inputted as speech may be referred to
herein as audio information. Crisis management system 100 could also be
configured such that client device 104 could receive (record) as status
information audio information other than speech.

[0108] In addition to update button 1454, the screen of FIG. 14 also
includes View button 1452 and Pictures button 1456. Selecting Pictures
button 1456 takes the user to the screen illustrated in FIG. 17A
(described below). The screen of FIG. 17A includes an Upload button 1758.
Selecting the Upload button 1758 takes the user to the screen in FIG. 18
where, instead of inputting status information in the form of text (or
speech) information as in the update screen of FIG. 14, the user may
input status information in the form of image (or video) information,
e.g., a photograph (or video) of or pertaining to the asset identified in
asset field 1845, reflecting its status as pertaining to the event at
issue. By pressing Upload Image button 1859, the inputted image (or
video) information is uploaded/transmitted to server 102 for access by
other users (described below). With the Camera icon 1860, a user may use
client device 104 to take a photograph or video and then directly and
immediately input the photograph or video for uploading to the server,
such that the photograph or video will appear in the pictures screen
(FIG. 17A, described below) as status information for an asset, all of
which may be performed while the user is effectively operating within
software application 216. Other users of the system may then view the
photograph or video immediately thereafter, almost as soon as the
photograph or video has been taken (described below). If communication
network 120 is down when image/video is captured by a user for uploading
to server 102, the image/video may be (e.g., stored in storage 213 and
then) automatically uploaded when communication network 120 becomes
operational. Images/video need not be inputted solely by the user
capturing the image/video at the moment via client device 104, but may
also be inputted from another source, e.g., by clicking the Photo Gallery
icon 1862, the user may access a Photo Gallery of images/videos already
stored on client device 104, e.g., on a hard disk on client device 104,
from which images/video may be selected for inputting (and subsequent
uploading to server). As indicated by the Title field 1864 and Notes
field 1866, users may also annotate image/video information with
textual/linguistic description, which may be saved, and thus viewed, with
the image/video information. An image/video to be inputted may be
previewed in the photo preview box 1868. As described below with respect
to the screen of FIG. 16, the user selects an asset from the sidebar list
view (element 1608 in FIG. 16) to input image/video information
pertaining to that asset. Crisis management system 100 may be configured,
along the lines illustrated in FIG. 14, so that the user selects a tab
indicating a category 1450 to input image/video information pertaining to
that category for the selected asset. Hitting the Thumbnails button 1870
takes the user to the pictures screen of FIG. 17A. FIG. 17A will be
described later.

[0109] The term "status information" or the like is intended to encompass
status information in the form of textual or linguistic information,
speech or audio information, and image/video status information.

[0110] As described above with reference to FIGS. 14 and 18, when status
information is inputted into client device 104, it is associated with a
given asset and a given event (the user first selects an event and an
asset and inputs the status information as pertaining to the selected
event and asset). In this way, information is organized according to
event and asset. All information about a given event, about a given
asset, and about a given asset with respect to a given event, may be
associated with the respective event/asset/asset with respect to event.
In this regard, for example, every asset may be assigned a unique
identifier, and all information inputted about that asset may be
associated with that identifier. Thus, various attributes, e.g., as
represented by the category tabs, or the information fields associated
therewith, in FIG. 14, of each asset may be kept track of.

[0111] In addition, the date/time at which status information is inputted
to client device 104 (or uploaded to server 102) may be recorded and
associated with the status information inputted. Thus, any input of
status information may be deemed an update of status information
pertaining to a given asset as of a given time. Each status update
received by server 102 may be recorded as a separate record in order to
avoid having conflicting versions of information pertaining to the same
asset/event/time.

[0112] Crisis management system 100 may be configured such that, whenever
server 102 receives updated status information about an asset (i.e.,
whenever the status of an attribute of an asset changes), software
service 116 automatically sends alerts to client devices 104 notifying
them that an update has been made and/or of the content of the update.
Such alerts may be sent to selected groups of client devices 104, e.g.,
to those users on the local response team responsible for the asset to
which the update pertains and to the corporate response team.

[0113] As described below, not only status information as discussed with
reference to FIGS. 14 and 18, but also messages (when inputted) may
likewise be associated with a given asset and given event. Hence,
messages may also be organized according to event and asset. Likewise,
the date/time at which a message is inputted to client device 104 or sent
may be recorded and associated with the message.

[0114] Accordingly, as described below, users can easily view and navigate
through all status information and/or all messages pertaining to a given
asset, and users can easily view and navigate through, e.g., in
chronological order or reverse chronological order, a complete history or
archive of all status updates and/or messages pertaining to a given
asset.

[0115] The portions of crisis management methods 700, 800 pertaining to
the accessing or viewing of inputted status information will be described
with reference to FIGS. 16, 17A, 17B, and 19 (FIG. 15, also pertinent to
this discussion, has already been described above). FIG. 16 is a
screenshot of a View (view status) screen for viewing status information
of assets, in accordance with some embodiments. The screen shown in FIG.
16 is similar to that of FIG. 14, and the former may be navigated to from
the latter by selecting the View button 1452 in FIG. 14. Whereas the
screen of FIG. 14 was for inputting information, that of FIG. 16 is for
viewing information already inputted. Accordingly, the information fields
1604 shown in FIG. 16 are not for entering information as in FIG. 14 but
rather for viewing information already entered. Consequently, the screen
of FIG. 16 does not have Save" and Cancel buttons. Instead, the screen of
FIG. 16 has a Current button 1672 and a History button 1674 (partly
hidden behind vertical sidebar popup window 1608). Between the Current
button 1672 and History button 1674 is information indicating the time
and date at which the status information shown above (in information
fields 1604) was inputted (or received by server 102). Also shown is an
update identification field 1676 indicating which update the information
shown pertains to; "Update 29 of 29" indicates that the information shown
represents the chronologically last (most recent), or twenty-ninth of
twenty-nine updates pertaining to this asset for this event that have
been inputted and are stored by the system. Using the screen of FIG. 16,
a user can easily navigate through all the updates pertaining to a given
asset for a given event by selecting the current button 1672 and the
history button 1674 (which could also be rendered as "next" and
"previous" buttons, forward and backward arrows, etc.) to move forward or
backward in time ("first" and "last" buttons could also be provided to
move to the first and last update). Crisis management system 100 may also
be configured to provide a timeline of information of multiple status
updates so as to show a greater amount of history on a single screen and
thus reduce the need to navigate to different screens in order to see
statuses at different times. The screen of FIG. 16 also includes a local
response team field 1678 which shows the local response team members
responsible for the selected asset, and a statuses field 1680, which
shows the emergency and operating statuses of the selected asset. These
statuses may be provided in FIG. 14 as information entry fields 1404,
e.g., under the "Overall" tab.

[0116] As also seen in FIG. 16, the List button 1646 has been selected,
causing a popup window to open, which contains a vertical sidebar 1608.
The sidebar 1608 lists the assets 1610 associated with the selected event
(Great Shakeout), shown in the event name field 1644. By selecting one of
the three sidebar tabs at top left, namely, Building tab 1680, City tab
1681, and Status tab 1682, the assets 1610 are caused to be listed in
different sequences. For example, when the Status tab 1682 is selected,
the assets 1610 are sorted according to their statuses, as indicated by
the color-coded status bubbles (rectangles) 1683 associated with the
assets 1610, respectively (note: as FIG. 16 is in black and white, the
different colors of the bubbles 1683 appear as different shades of grey).
The map view, accessed by selecting the Map button 1648, has already been
described above with reference to FIG. 15. Of course, selecting the
Update button 1654 takes the user to the screen shown in FIG. 14, and
selecting the Pictures button 1656 takes the user to the screen shown in
FIG. 17A. The remainder of FIG. 16 has been described above with respect
to FIG. 14.

[0117] FIGS. 17A and 17B are screenshots of pictures screens for viewing
pictures of assets, in accordance with some embodiments. The screen of
FIG. 17A thus shows status information comprising photographs 1701
pertaining to the selected asset (1145 Bush) and the selected event
(Great Shakeout) that have been inputted by user(s) on client device(s)
104 and uploaded to server 102 and stored on database 118 of memory 112
in association with the indicated asset and event. Selecting one of the
photographs of FIG. 17A takes the user to a screen such as that shown in
FIG. 17B.

[0118] FIG. 17B is a screenshot showing a close-up 1703 or image detail of
the one of the images 1701 selected from the screen of FIG. 17A. The
screen of FIG. 17B may still show all the images of that of FIG. 17A, but
in a thumbnail gallery 1705, on a smaller scale than images 1701 of FIG.
17A. The screen of FIG. 17B may also include image identification fields
1707, 1709, indicating which user inputted ("uploaded") the selected
image and the date and time it was taken, respectively. FIG. 17B also
shows a textual annotation associated with the selected image, including
a title 1711 of the image and a comment 1713 providing further
description. The annotation is stored in association with the image and,
by using edit button 1715, may be edited by (authorized) users, for
example, the user who took the photograph and other authorized users.

[0119] The portions of crisis management methods 700, 800 pertaining to
the accessing or viewing of reports will be described with reference to
FIGS. 19, 20A and 20B. FIG. 19 is a screenshot of a status report screen
for viewing reports on the status of assets. FIGS. 20A and 20B are
screenshots of a dashboard for viewing statistical reports generated from
information about all the assets or a group of assets, with FIG. 20B
illustrating a popup window allowing a user to drill down into the
statistical information presented to obtain information specifying
particular assets.

[0120] Recalling the home screen, shown in FIG. 13, selecting the Reports
icon 1338 depicted there takes the user to the screen shown in FIG. 19.
The report of FIG. 19 shows information similar to that of FIG. 14, but
for multiple assets and in a more summary fashion. In the screen of FIG.
19, status information may be viewed per asset (building), per
area/division (region), or for the organization/corporate entity as a
whole (company), via the three tabs for these categories 1950. The
information fields 1904 ("Number of injured," "Number of trapped," etc.)
are similar but not identical to information fields 1404 of FIG. 14 (the
example appearing in FIG. 19 is different than that of FIG. 14, e.g., in
FIG. 19 the organization is a company with multiple retail stores). As
noted above, the categories 1950 may be easily customized by the user. In
FIG. 19, summary information on multiple assets may be viewed on a single
screen, in contrast to FIG. 14, where information for a single asset is
illustrated. Also, the current status information or older status
information may be viewed, via the Now button 1972 and the History button
1974, respectively. Using the screen of FIG. 19, users may jump from
between different levels of organizational hierarchy (i.e., different
categories 1950) with a single click. The Refresh button 1973 permits a
user to effectively update the status report to incorporate any new
updates that have occurred since the screen was initially navigated to.
Upon user request, the information presented may be downloaded to a
spreadsheet or a file and may be sent directly to a user's computer,
e.g., via an email attachment, or otherwise.

[0121] Software service 116 may also perform analysis of information
received and, based on the analysis, generate, e.g., statistical reports
based on information from all the assets or a portion of the assets,
showing collective status information reflecting recovery performance of
the organization as a whole, via various parameters. An example of such a
report is shown in the screenshot of FIG. 20A. The dashboard in FIG. 20A
shows, e.g., status for the collectivity of assets, i.e., the numbers of
assets having different statuses (shown by the pie charts 2001, 2003), as
well as the numbers of assets that are not operational due to single
issues and due to multiple issues, with identification of which issues
affect how many assets (shown by the graphs 2005, 2007, respectively).
The different statuses may include, e.g., open versus closed properties
(operational versus non-operational assets), as shown in pie chart 2003,
and different levels of impact, as shown in pie chart 2001. By selecting
one of the buttons 2002, 2004 associated with the pie charts 2001, 2003,
respectively, a user opens a popup window containing a list identifying
the specific assets that have that status. Such a popup window 2008 is
illustrated in FIG. 20B, showing a list of those assets having the
"closed" status. Software service 116 may continually generate updated
versions of the reports of FIGS. 19, 20A and 20B, e.g., whenever new
information is received. A user may add additional graphs by selecting a
type of graph and filter condition(s) for the data to be displayed on the
graph.

[0122] The viewing of status information and reports, as described above
with reference to FIGS. 15, 16, 17A, 17B, 19, 20A, and 20B, may be
performed using display device 219 of client device 104. In some
embodiments, output may be provided in different forms, e.g., in audio
form outputted to a speaker, printed, exported to PDF, MS-Word or other
file format (that may be transmitted electronically to an electronic
device), etc.

[0123] In addition, with regard to the viewing of status information and
reports, crisis management system 100 may be configured so as to provide
users with information of interest related to the event at hand, e.g.,
weather or news information. Such information may be obtained from third
party sources and provided via screens such as the those for viewing
status or viewing reports described above.

[0124] The portion of crisis management methods 700, 800 pertaining to
communication--sending and receiving messages among users--will be
described with reference to FIGS. 21-23.

[0125] FIG. 21 is a screenshot showing a message center. The message
center may serve the entire organization, e.g., Pandora University. As
discussed above with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, crisis management system
100 is preferably configured such that server 102 receives all messages
sent from one client device 104 to another. In addition, as per the
arrangement of FIG. 5, a message sent from one client device 104 to
another may in fact be sent to server 102 from the sending client device
104 and then transmitted by server 102 to the receiving client device
104. In addition, as discussed above, server 102 may automatically send
alerts to all or pertinent ones of client devices 104 whenever the status
of an asset changes. Here, with respect to FIG. 21, server 102 includes a
message center where all messages sent from one client device 104 to
another are stored. Thus, server 102 serves as a centralized
communication center, tracking and, preferably, also sending all
messages.

[0126] Messages of the message center may be stored in database 118. In
addition, as mentioned above, each message stored in the message center
was preferably associated with a given asset and a given event at the
time the message was created or sent. The messages are stored in the
message center in association with the asset and event to which they
pertain. Thus, the messages are different from ordinary emails, text
messages, and the like. Further, as mentioned above, each message may be
time-stamped and date-stamped, with this information also being saved in
association with the message. Users can access the message center and
view all messages associated with a given asset/event, and can view the
chronology of such messages, e.g., can navigate through messages in
chronological or reverse chronological order. Of course, authorization
may be required to view some or all messages. As shown in FIG. 21,
(authorized) users can view all messages 2110 in summary form, including
brief message content information 2113, sender identification 2111,
status identification 2117 (e.g., queued, sent, etc.), and time and date
identification 2119. Clicking on one of the listed messages 2110 brings
the user to the screen shown in FIG. 23, where the entire message is
visible. FIG. 23 is thus a screenshot of a message.

[0127] Clicking on the compose button 2115 in the screen of FIG. 21 takes
the user to the screen of FIG. 22. FIG. 22 is thus a screenshot of a
message compose screen, including a message input field 2201 for
inputting message text. When a user creates a message, the user must
specify the intended recipients of the message. The user may enter the
addresses of the recipients individually, or may select one or more user
groups 2210 (groups of users), which may be pre-defined by the system,
such as "Crisis Responders," "Evacuation Team," "Fire and Rescue," and
"Management"; other user groups may include, e.g., a given local response
team, the set of all viewers, and all users associated with a given asset
or division. In some cases, the system may be configured such that the
client device 104 of a user (device profile or user profile) of a certain
group or response team, or associated with a certain asset, may be
pre-programmed to select a particular group of intended recipients. In
some cases, the group of intended recipients may be automatically
selected based on the given asset and/or event that the message pertains
to. In any event, when a user creates a message, software application 216
associates the (client devices 104 of the) intended recipients with the
created message. When the client device 104 sends the message to server
102 for transmission to the intended recipients (or when the client
device 104 sends a copy of the message to the server 102 under the
above-noted configuration of the arrangement of FIG. 6), client device
104 sends transmission data to server 102 in association with the
message. The transmission data includes information indicating the
(client devices 104 of the) intended recipients of the message. Under the
arrangement of FIG. 5, server 102 uses the recipient information in the
transmission data to send the message to the client devices 104 of the
intended recipients. In any event, server 102 stores the intended
recipient information in association with the message in the message
center.

[0128] Transmission of messages among client devices 104 and server 102
may be via email, text message (e.g., short messaging service (SMS),
multimedia messaging service (MMS)) or by another manner of transmission.
Messages may include not only textual information, as illustrated in FIG.
22, but also graphical, image/video, or audio information.

[0129] FIG. 24 is a screenshot of a settings screen for adjusting settings
for a crisis management system, in accordance with some embodiments. As
mentioned above with reference to the home screen shown in FIG. 13,
selecting the Settings button 1332 in that screen opens a popup window
2408 where the user may view and edit settings for server 102, as
illustrated in FIG. 24. Access to this screen may be limited to those
users having administrative, executive or the like permission types. As
with the other screens described herein, the set of particular fields
2404 (here, i.e., settings that may be adjusted), as well as the format,
layout, etc., may be varied from that illustrated.

[0130] In light of the principles and example embodiments described and
illustrated herein, it will be recognized that the example embodiments
can be modified in arrangement and detail without departing from such
principles. Also, the foregoing discussion has focused on particular
embodiments, but other configurations are also contemplated. In
particular, even though expressions such as "in one embodiment," "in
another embodiment," or the like are used herein, these phrases are meant
to generally reference embodiment possibilities, and are not intended to
limit the invention to particular embodiment configurations. As used
herein, these terms may reference the same or different embodiments that
are combinable into other embodiments. As a rule, any embodiment
referenced herein is freely combinable with any one or more of the other
embodiments referenced herein, and any number of features of different
embodiments are combinable with one another, unless indicated otherwise
or so dictated by the description herein.

[0131] Similarly, although example methods or processes have been
described with regard to particular steps or operations performed in a
particular sequence, numerous modifications could be applied to those
methods or processes to derive numerous alternative embodiments of the
present invention. For example, alternative embodiments may include
methods or processes that use fewer than all of the disclosed steps or
operations, methods or processes that use additional steps or operations,
and methods or processes in which the individual steps or operations
disclosed herein are combined, subdivided, rearranged, or otherwise
altered. Similarly, this disclosure describes one or more embodiments
wherein various operations are performed by certain systems,
applications, module, components, etc. In alternative embodiments,
however, those operations could be performed by different components.
Also, items such as applications, module, components, etc. may be
implemented as software constructs stored in a machine accessible storage
medium, such as an optical disk, a hard disk drive, etc., and those
constructs may take the form of applications, programs, subroutines,
instructions, objects, methods, classes, or any other suitable form of
control logic; such items may also be implemented as firmware or
hardware, or as any combination of software, firmware and hardware, or
any combination of any two of software, firmware and hardware. The term
"processor" may refer to one or more processors.

[0132] Further, each of the method embodiments set forth above, including
all combinations of method embodiments, may also be instantiated as an
article of manufacture embodiment, wherein an article of manufacture
comprises a non-transitory machine-accessible medium containing
instructions, the instructions comprising a software application or
software service, such as software service 116 or software application
216, wherein the instructions, when executed by the machine, cause the
machine to perform the respective method. The machine may be, e.g.,
processor 110 or 210, a processor-based system such as system 100, or a
processor-based device such as client device 104.

[0133] This disclosure may include descriptions of various benefits and
advantages that may be provided by various embodiments. One, some, all,
or different benefits or advantages may be provided by different
embodiments.

[0134] In view of the wide variety of useful permutations that may be
readily derived from the example embodiments described herein, this
detailed description is intended to be illustrative only, and should not
be taken as limiting the scope of the invention. What is claimed as the
invention, therefore, are all implementations that come within the scope
of the following claims, and all equivalents to such implementations.